Chennai-based LifeCell India, the first private cord blood stem cell banking service provider in the country, is all set to acquire a stem cell therapy company in the US for $10 million. The buyout will be funded from the Rs 70 crore that is to be raised through an initial public offering (IPO) planned by Asia Cryo Cell, the parent company of LifeCell, in a couple of months.
Lifecell, which is in the final stages of negotiations, is expected to close the deal within the next six months. The US company is one among the first five stem cell banking companies in the US, with a sales turnover of about $7 million per annum. About 10% of the cord blood cell units are stored in the US, out of 36 lakhs births taking place annually. The $65 million stem cell market in the US is growing at 20% per annum. About 40 established stem cell banks provide services in the US at present.
The umbilical cord of a new-born, which is usually cut at the time of delivery, is found to be a rich source of stem cells and scientists believe that these diverse cell types would lead to new forms of treatment for many serious ailments like leukemia, strokes, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson?s and Alzheimer?s diseases.
Other players like Reliance Life Sciences and the Pune-based Cord Life Biotech have a presence in India, where cord blood stem cell therapy is yet to be popular. Lifecell, which holds about 90% of Indian stem cell banking sector, will increase the number of cord blood banking units to 60 by the end of next year.
The company has collected about 10,000 stem cell units so far and plans to collect 10,000 units every year. The company has received AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) accreditation recently.